Disclosure: I received complimentary items from Purina in order to facilitate my True Nature Of Cats journey. No other form of compensation has been received. Regardless, all opinions expressed are 100% mine and are accurately reflected in this post.

In my first True Nature of Cats post, I introduced you to the journey I’m on with Purina One to learn more about my cats’ behaviors. I experimented with the placement of the food dishes in the kitchen and discovered that my cats do not like change. Now, I’m on a new mission. I’m determined to discover when each of my cats is the most active so I can schedule play time during that time.

I have also been working on Gracie’s eating habits. Not only does she eat too fast but she eats too much. Gracie has gained a considerable amount of weight since she was spayed. Purina researchers understand that weight gain can occur after spaying/neutering. This is one of the many reasons they created Purina One Healthy Metabolism. Gracie is being fed both wet and dry Healthy Metabolism. She has also started using the Tiger Diner {more on this later} and we are working on increasing her activity level.

[exceptional-citing quoted=”kimberly” template=”bubble-blue” date=”” ]I would be remiss if I did not tell you that since my last post, my sweet boy Zeus passed away. Zeus had an untreatable and malignant form of cancer that eventually overtook his body. He stopped eating, drinking, and had difficulty moving. It was obvious he was in pain. As a result, my husband and I made the VERY difficult decision to have Zeus put to sleep. Zeus was with us for 16 years and he never met a stranger. When I’m able, I plan on writing a special tribute post to Zeus. The emotions are still too raw right now for me to compose such a post. Until then…RIP my sweet boy.[/exceptional-citing]

When Purina researchers observed African cats in the wild, they noticed that the majority have ideal body weights. This is probably due to the fact that African wildcats have to hunt for their food so they only eat when hungry. They’re also quite active in the wild. In contrast, our house cats have food available to them 24 hours a day, no hunting required. Even though Gracie, Bear, Bandit, and Spitfire don’t hunt for their food, they still exhibit hunting behaviors. Have you ever seen your cat crouch down and act like he’s stalking his prey? Those are the hunting behaviors that cats innately have.

To encourage physical activity, Purina researchers recommend using toys that bring out cats’ hunting behaviors. Gracie’s favorite toys are her catnip stuffed mouse and a fishing pole-style cat toy. Gracie likes to play in the afternoon and evening times. She loves using her paws to capture the feather on the end of the pole. She will jump in the air and gladly chase after the feather. She’s too cute when she leaps around!

Bear and Bandit are both senior cats so they seldom engage in play with me. Before his fur brother passed away, Bear used to play with his moo-moo {stuffed cow toy}. He hasn’t played with it since Zeus died. Bandit will play with a catnip toy if she’s by herself and no other cats are around. When she does play, she uses all four paws and really gets into it. She gnashes on the toy with her teeth and throws it up in the air and then pounces on it. She’s a natural hunter if ever I’ve seen one!!

Spitfire….my poor boy :(. He was really close to his buddy Zeus. Since Zeus’s passing, Spitfire walks around the house howling, scratching at closed doors, and refusing to engage in any of his regular play behaviors. Our veterinarian assures me that this is a normal grieving reaction in cats. It breaks my heart.

Ever since Gracie was spayed, she has easily doubled her weight. We have tried limiting her access to food but in a multi-cat household it is very difficult to do so. She also overeats, and then she vomits, and then she eats some more. I have seen this behavior in shelter pets before. It’s a learned behavior and is related to feelings of food insecurity. Since I want Gracie to be healthy, I’m really working hard on portion control and weight loss. This past week I introduced her to the Tiger Diner.

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[exceptional-citing quoted=”kimberly” template=”bubble-blue” date=”” ]She has been eating from it all week {I’m happy to say}. It has definitely slowed down her gorging habit. The proof is in the numbers——>Gracie lost one pound!![/exceptional-citing]

I definitely recommend watching this short video on Healthy Metabolism for Spayed/Neutered Cats. It’s quite informative.

About Kimberly

Kimberly is the owner and editor of Saving More Than Me. She started blogging in 2009 after receiving a diagnosis of Primary Progressive Multiple Sclerosis. Kimberly currently lives in Richmond, VA with her husband and four fur children. She has one daughter who attends college too far away! Kimberly is a passionate animal lover, tv & tech junkie, bibliophile, anglophile, crafter/diy'er, and wanderer. Click here to find out what subjects Kimberly's Master's degrees are in and learn the profession she previously worked in.

What Others Are Saying:

We used to have a Spitfire. He was less than a year old when he found us. We had him a few years. One day he went outside and didn’t come back. I have a friend who lives down the road. A cat looking like Spits showed up in her colony of cats. Spits had no cats to play with up here. We have a 16 year old cat who he always wanted to pounce on. Precious had other ideas. We now have a 7 year old long haired calico who found us a few years ago. She’s our laid back girl.

We used to have a Spitfire. He was less than a year old when he found us. We had him a few years. One day he went outside and didn’t come back. I have a friend who lives down the road. A cat looking like Spits showed up in her colony of cats. Spits had no cats to play with up here. We have a 16 year old cat who he always wanted to pounce on. Precious had other ideas. We now have a 7 year old long haired calico who found us a few years ago. She’s our laid back girl.

We had a cat who was so bone-skinny when we got her that we thought she’d never fatten up. She ended up getting to be over 25 pounds before she passed on!! She was on a diet for years. We miss her so much.

I just came across your blog online while searching I forgot what lol because your blog was so interesting, informative, smmoth sailing and touching. It brought me to tears a few times when I read the lil things about Zues. I am a animal advocate of all animals as much as i can be and have 2 cats I rescued off the streets of LosAngeles. Im really sorry about him, even though its been some time now hes been gone, I know theres moments they pop in our thoughts that tug at our heart’s all too well. May he be with angels forever and forever feel loved lots and happy. Thanks for the senior discount info and info on ways to save on pet food and supplies and informative info. I will try to share some of it on my FB . I also recently turned the big dreaded 50 a couple of weeks ago. I am a Los Angeles native. Im not one to much comment on a blog but I really enjoyed your’s and it’s simple to read and orgaized well and I learned great new info useful for me and my two girls. Many blessings.

Gail: Thank you SO much for your kind words. I needed that today. Cats are one of my greatest joys in life and not a day goes by that I don’t think of Zeus. I know he is happy and healthy in Heaven with all of the other animals that have passed. 50 is the new 40 so you’re still a youngster my dear Thank you for your comment and your visit. Hugs from me to you.

That Tiger Diner is so cool. Yea be sure to watch her weight because I think when a cat get’s that much overweight it starts causing kidney damage in them .Many cats as they age in fact end up dying from kidney failure already like and then to be overweight truly doesnt help one bit. I truly didnt know about the most cats cause of death is kidney failre issue so sadly did not spot in soon enough in my pet and she did loseweight but then slowly got really thin too and for awhile I just thought she was just getting thin cuz I was cutting back on her food somewhat and then more months passed and slowly her appetite wasnt quite as good but I thought oh maybe its just she has ahairball or just isnt ferling the greatest today and had afew other issues in my life that prob had me not really paying real close attention and noticing things I should of. What I really should of been doing was having herget check ups at least every year or two from a Vet but usually Im a paycheck to paycheck person too so I didnt do it. I would surely if I saw any signs of pain in her but when she did show more serious symptoms the damage to her kidneys had already bern done. She was about 17 but my kitties Ive had before had made it to close to 20 so for me it wasnt her time yet and so so hard and a bad feeling of guiltI get attimes. She was the best kitty of my life and Ive had kitties since a toddler. I read online recently that feeding your cats more a canned diet makes them live longer lives now theyve proven they said. They determined dry cat food doesnt usually keep a cat’s kidney’s healthy enough due to lack of hydration. Its suppose to be like 75 percent feed your cat canned food and 25 percent dry food to prevent kidney disease down the road too soon.